“My project tells the stories of Palestinians who were injured in the recent war on Gaza, those who receive treatment here in Qatar, and how their lives changed.
Some of them had their lives turned upside down in a terrifying way after losing all their family members or even their limbs. Some of them went blind and many of them were separated from their loved ones here in Qatar after they came to receive treatment.
Since I started the project, I have gone through very difficult and harsh moments. Some stories made me sleep for two days and I cry whenever I remember their narration of all the horror they went through. I do not know how they can continue their lives with all the terrifying details they lived. I always wonder how they sleep with all these painful memories? Is a hug enough to relieve this pain? How will they continue their lives?
Amputations. Disfiguration. Brain damage. Their injuries are life-changing.
Mahmoud Ajjour and Ruba Abu Jibba are part of a relatively small number of badly wounded Gazans who have survived a war that has killed tens of thousands. These patients made it out for medical treatment in Qatar, where we photographed and interviewed them.
They are alive — even if some are not sure they still want to be.
Ms. Abu Jibba lost an eye in the war. She says she was wounded during shelling as her family was fleeing Israeli tanks.
Mahmoud was wounded as his family fled their home after Israeli shells began falling, his mother, Noor Ajjour, says. The going was slow, she says, and the boy went back to urge everyone on. But when an explosion ripped off one hand and mangled the other, his pleas changed, and he asked to be left behind. ‘I am going to die,’ his mother recalls him saying.
In Qatar, Mahmoud, aged 9, is using his feet for everything. ‘My biggest wish now is to get prosthetics,’ he says.”
- Samar Abu Elouf.
Mahmoud Ajjour, 9 years old, had both arms amputated in a bombing in Gaza City, Gaza, Palestine, and is now receiving treatment in Qatar. 28 June 2024.
Basant Al-Louh suffered chemical burns, shrapnel wounds to her face, and an amputated ear. She also lost her parents in the bombing of their home in the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Gaza, Palestine. Photographed in Qatar, 21 August 2024.
All members of the Aziza family were injured while they were fleeing in the street after a mosque was bombed next to them in the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Gaza, Palestine. Photographed in Qatar, on 8 September 2024.
Ruba Abu Jibba lost an eye during shelling as her family was fleeing Israeli tanks in Gaza, Palestine. She and some other badly wounded Gazans survived a war that has killed tens of thousands. They made it out for medical treatment in Qatar. Photographed in Qatar, on 6 September 2024.---
Samar Abu Elouf is a self-taught photojournalist from Gaza. She has been documenting daily life, news, and the profound effects of conflict on her country since 2010.
For the 28th edition of the Joop Swart Masterclass, we brought together 12 emerging photographers from around the world to develop a project, and develop the tools to make a viable career in photography.
Launched in 1994, the Joop Swart Masterclass is World Press Photo’s best-known educational program for emerging photographers, encouraging new and diverse approaches to photojournalism, documentary photography and visual storytelling. After a three-year hiatus, the Joop Swart Masterclass returns this year, with a focus on the MENA region, thanks to funding from the Porticus Foundation.
Credit: Samar Abu Elouf
See more work by 2024 Joop Swart Masterclass participants here
